If you want to be supportive of a friend or family member who has been victimized, it is important to be aware that you too may experience any number of the above reactions, and may need to seek help as well.

Recovery from Victimization

Many people live through a crisis and are able to reconstruct their lives without outside help. Most people find that the assistance of a victim advocate/counselor/support person is useful in dealing with this type of personal crisis.

Recovery from immediate crisis is often affected by 1. Severity of crisis reaction 2.Ability to understand what happened 3.Stability of victim/survivor’s equilibrium before event 4.Supportive environment 5.Validation of experience

Recovery issues for survivors include 1.Getting control of event in victim/survivor’s mind 2.Working out an understanding of the event and, as needed, a redefinition of values 3.Re-establishing a new equilibrium/life 4.Re-establishing trust 5.Re-establishing meaning